Wrench



v UNITED STATES i PATENT OEETCE.,Y

GEORGE MCKERCHER, OF JONESVILLE, MICHIGAN.v

WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 504,232, dated August29, 1893.

Application filed January 7,1893. Serial No. 457,602. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE McKEncHEn, a citizen of the United States,residing at J onesville, in the county of Hillsdale and State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wrenches;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in pipe or nut wrenches and themain object of the invention is to provide a wrench in which the bearingor face plates of the jaws are detachably secured in place so that, incase of injury thereto, they can be readily removed and replaced by newones.`

A further object of the invention is to provide a rocking bearing orface plate for the stationary jaw so that said plate can more readilyadapt itself to the object which the wrench is employed to grasp.

With these ends in view my improved wrench consists of a bifurcated headprovided at one end with means for attachinga suitable handle and at itsother end with a rocking serrated bearing plate which forms the face ofthe stationaryjaw of the wrench, a movable jaw pivoted within the headand provided at its outer end with a removable serrated bearing or faceplate, and a spring secured within the head and bearing against theinner end or heel of the movable jaw.

My invention further consists in the peculiar construction andarrangement of parts as will be, hereinafter, more fully pointed out andclaimed.

In the accompanying drawings z--Figu re lis a side elevation of myimproved wrench showing the movable jaw at its greatest distance fromthe stationary jaw. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing theposition of parts when the wrench is not in use or is adapted to graspvery small objects. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line w a; ofFig 1. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the bearing or face plate of thestationary jaw.

Like letters of reference denote correspond ing parts in all the figuresof the drawings, referring to which- A designates the head of myimproved wrench which head is centrally bifurcated by a longitudinalslot, a, and is provided at one end with an internally threaded socketdesigned to receive the threaded eind of a handle, B, which may be ofany desired length. A handle of any desired length, in view of the workdesigned to be accomplished by the wrench, can be readily attached tothe head, A. The outer free ends of the members of the head, A, are cntaway or recessed to form seats, C, on which rests the bearing or faceplate, D, of the stationary jaw of the wrench. The outer end of thebearing or face plate, D, is preferably made slightly convex andserrated; and the under side thereof is inclined and provided with atriangular shaped arm,

D', which extends into the slot, a, and is pivl otally connected to thesides of the head of thetwrench by a pivot pin,E. The underside orsurface of the plate, D, is inclined at a different angle from the facesof the longer walls or sides of the seats, C, against which it rests sothat said plate has a limited rocking motion which enables it to morereadily adapt itself to the surface of the article introduced betweenthe jaws of the wrench.

Within the slot, a, in the head of my improved wrench is pivoted themovable jaw, F, to the short arm of which is detachably connected abearing or face plate, G, which extends at right angles to the length ofthe long arm of the jaw and the outer face of said plate is serrated ina manner similar to the corresponding plate of the stationary jaw. Theouter end of the short arm of the movable jaw is provided with a shortprojecting lng Q1 which, when the plate, G, is placed in position,contacts with a raised portion or lng lo formed on the smooth rear faceof said plate between parallel flanges, G', which extend on oppositesides of and are detachably connected to the short arm of the movablebar by a pin or bolt, g.' The flanges, G', are preferably made longerthan the body of the plate, G, so that they extend on opposite sides ofthe longer arm of the movable jaw which arm thus bears against the bodyof the plate G and prevents the same from moving longitudinally in thatdirection, the lug on the short arm of the movable jaw serving toprevent longitudinal movement of said plate in IOC able jaw is forcedclosely against an objectf introduced between the jaws. As will be seen,by reference to Fig. 2 of the drawings, the spring, H, is formed from asingle piece of spring metal one end of which is bent around and firmlyattached to a pin, K, ar ranged within and extending transversely acrossthe slot, a. The spring, H, extends from the pin, K, in almost astraight line to3 a point near the rear end of the slot, a, and

is thenbent upon itself and has its free end extending forwardly andoutwardly, as shown,

and said free end bears against the inner end.

or heel of the movable jaw. The inner end or heel of the movable jaw is,preferably, cut away to form a curving surface, L, and a short inclinedsurface, M. The free end of the spring H, fits in the recess or notchformed in the heel of the movable jaw and, when said jaw is thrown intothe position shown in Fig. 1, the short inclined surface bears squarelyagainst said spring and the jaw is held firmly in its open position.

The bearing or face plate of the stationary jaw of the wrench isprovided with a short slot, d, which opens through the lower or innerend of said plate and aligns with the slot a in the head of the wrench;and when the movable jaw is brought close to the stationary jaw, asshown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, thelonger arm thereof tits in saidslot, d. By this construction the jaws can be brought much closertogether and the wrench adapted to grasp smaller objects than ispossible with wrenches of this class as ordinarily constructed.

I am aware that changes in the form and proportion of parts and detailsof construction of the embodiment of my invention here in shown anddescribed can be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificingthe advantages thereof andI therefore reserve the right to make suchchanges and alterations as fairly fall within the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my improvements,

what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A wrench consisting ot' a handle, a head attached to the handle andhaving its outer end inclined, a rocking bearing plate, D, pivoted tothe head and contacting with the inclined end thereof, anda movable jawpivoted to the head, substantially as described.

2. In a wrench, the combination with a head, forming the stationary jaw,and a handle attached to the head, of a movable jaw having one armpivotally connected to the head and having a bearing plate, G, which isprovided with a lug, 7c, adapted to contact with a lug, t', on the otherarm of said jaw, and has its sides, G', extending on opposite sides ofthe arm that is pivotedto thehead, substantially as described.

3. In a wrench, thecombin-ationwith abifurcatedhead and a handleattached to said head, of a serrated bearing plate secured within thebifurcation in the head and `provided with a slot, d, and a movable jawhaving one 4arm pivoted within the head between the handle and theserrated bearing plate `and adapted to fit in the slotin said plate,substantially as described.

4. A wrench consisting of a handle, abifur cated head attached to thehandle, a serrated bearing plate arranged at the free end of the headand provided with an arm which is'pivoted within the bifurcation in thehead, and a movable jaw pivoted within the head, substantially asdescribed.

5. In a wrench, the combination of a bifurcated head having seats, C,formed therein,a bearing plate having an arm extending into thebifurcation in the head andpivotally connected to the walls thereof, thelower face of said plate being inclined at a different angle from theface of the adjacent seats, C, in the head, and a movable jaw havinganarm pivoted within the head of the `wrench and adapted to extend intothe slot in the head and an aligned slot or recess formed in `thebearing plate on the head, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE MCKEROHER.

Vitnesses:

C. V. BURNETT, WESLEYBURNETT.

IOO

